Sermon for 4/27/2008
Credentials of a Champion
Introduction:
Steve Shepherd- In 1974 when I went to try out for a church in Iberia, Montana, an elder introduced me. He said some things about my college experience and then said, “He says he’s a preacher. We’ll find out!”
WBTU:
A. Paul has a big dilemma here with the Corinthians. The Lord used Paul and his team to found the church in Corinth. Since they left and went to Ephesus, other preachers and teachers have come in and are trying to discredit Paul.
B. Some in the Corinthian church refuse to listen to Paul and what he has to say because of these new teachers that have come. Paul was a humble man. Listen to what he says in (2 Cor 10:17 NIV) But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
C. These teachers that have come in are not that way. They love to talk about themselves and their experiences, their visions and their greatness. This appealed to the Corinthians. In some ways it appeals to us today. In private we hate someone to give their resume. However, in the public sector this seems to be the way to do things. This is tolerated in our society and it is expected. Look at TV.
D. Listen to what Paul says of these guys in (2 Cor 11:5 NIV) But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles."
I. All of this could and should have been overlooked by Paul. Why give a defense of his ministry at all? This verse show why: (2 Cor 11:4 NIV) For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
Thesis: Our passage this morning from 2 Corinthians 11 gives 4 credentials of champions for Jesus Christ. (Really these are credentials for all Christians but if we have these in increasing measure we will be champions for Jesus Christ)
For instances:
I. Honest but loving in our dealings (Read 2 Corinthians 11:16-21)
A. Focus in on vs. 20.
B. A true Christian will love people. This is the problem sometimes. We feel like we have not been to church unless the preacher beats us up. We do not take our Christianity seriously during the week and so for our penance in doing so poorly we come in here and expected the preacher to blast us. If he doesn’t he really isn’t preaching. Not that this changes our actions or that we really do repent, but it makes us feel better than we have endured our penance for the week. That’s not true Christianity!
D. Also, we have to speak the truth but do it in love. (Eph 4:15 NIV) Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
F. The chorus to Billy Joel’s song “Honesty” expresses a universal feeling: Honesty is such a lonely word Everyone is so untrue Honesty is hardly ever heard And mostly what I need from you.
G. Truth and love often are in tension with each other, but if we don’t maintain that tension, we most often end up with neither truth nor love. The loving person recognizes elements of the truth that are unpleasant and difficult. So they decide, "I’m just going to be loving." And they don’t tell the truth when it’s time to. On the other hand, the person who majors only in truth thrives on giving people tongue lashings. But to be loving and truthful together is the secret to true Christianity.
H. Look at vs. 21
II. Painful sacrifices (Read 2 Corinthians 11:22- 27, 32-33)
A. A true Christian is one who will sacrifice. Paul sacrificed a great deal.
B. In Damascus instead of being welcomed, he had to leave as a basket case.
C. Vs. 27- He sacrificed his energy, his sleep, his food, his drink, his clothing, his bed.
D. Vs. 26- He sacrificed his home, he sacrificed his comfort.
E. Vs. 24- 25- He sacrificed his safety, he sacrificed his body through stonings, canings, floggings, and whippings.
F. Vs. 23- He sacrificed his freedom, he sacrificed his very life.
G. I don’t know of anyone who has before or since sacrificed as much as the Apostle Paul (except for Jesus Christ himself). The doctor Luke was often with Paul, his own personal physician, because his body was so shot.
H. Notice this is what Paul boasts about. This is what he puts on his resume.
I. Notice that this is how the ancient world recorded things. Listen to this from the Acts of Caesar Augustus: Twice I received triumphal ovations. Three times I received curule triumphs. Twenty times and one did I receive the appellation of imperator.
J. However, for the most part Paul talks this way but about things that most would not brag about. He starts off that way in vs. 22 and at the beginning of vs. 23. He cuts off worldly boasting and goes to spiritual boasting. Think of what Paul could have boasted. And this is what he talks about!
K. (Rom 12:1 KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
L. J. H. Goldner wrote, "The prevailing tendency in the present-day church is to make religion too easy. It is kept within the realm of convenience and comfort. Rarely is there a call for real sacrifice. By means of suppers and sales people are tricked into giving. Through entertainments and other alluring programs an effort is made to inject a little religion into the unsuspecting. And when people have come into the church the greatest care is exercised to spare them, so that only a minimum of anything is asked of them."
You might be interested to know that J. H. Goldner wrote these words about the church in 1926. And he accused the church of that time of little sacrifice. I wonder what he would say about the modern day church?
M. No pain, no gain!
N. Some in our day measure our faith but how much we have prospered. Not from Paul!
O. (1 Pet 2:20 NIV) But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.(1 Pet 2:21 NIV) To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
III. Stressful concerns (Read 2 Corinthians 11:28)
A. To be concerned about just one church would be stressful enough, but Paul was concerned about all the churches where he had preached and served. One credential of a true Christian is that they are concerned about their church.
B. We need to have a concern for the church, but not a critical concern, not a condemning concern. Our concern should be discerning, but not damning. It should be perceptive, but not policing. Our concern should be to build up, not to tear down. It should be toleration of one another in the church, not torment of one another. It should be edification, encouragement, helpfulness, kindness, consideration, compassion, and sympathy. What is the church? It is the people. We should be concerned about people. All people not just the ones in church!
C. (John 13:35 NIV) By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
IV. Helpful weaknesses (Read 2 Corinthians 11:30)
A. the apostle Paul was willing to admit his weaknesses or the fact that he was weak at times in his life. It’s only when we recognize our weaknesses that we will begin to get stronger. Christ sheds his grace and power on those who humble recognize how weak they are without him.
B. When I got out of college I went to many interviews. Didn’t get a ministry! I was talking to one of my professors about this and I admitted that I did not do well at interviews. He said just admit this at your next interview! I did at the next one! As soon as I admitted that I was not good at interviews, an elder jumped all over me. He said, “You have been to college. The first rule of interviewing is to emphasize your strengths and not your weaknesses!” I said, “Well, I thought I would be honest with you. We could start this over and I could lie to you and try to be someone I am not. Is that what you want?” When it was all said and done, I got the ministry position!
C. Sometimes a person’s weakness can be an asset. A man walked into the First Christian Church and said, "Look, I’m not a beggar, but I don’t have a job and I need some money. I would be willing to work." So they put him to work mowing the grass, and they gave him a few other things to do. He worked for several days and then they said, "We’ll hire you as our janitor. Just fill out these employment papers." He said, "I can’t read or write." They said, "Well, if you can’t read or write then we can’t hire you as our janitor." And they gave him a check for his work.
The man wouldn’t give up. He took the money, and bought some fruit and set up a fruit stand along a certain road. With his profit he bought some more fruit and before long, he had a very profitable fruit stand business. In fact, over a period of several years, he made more than a million dollars.
One day, he took his money to the bank and said, "I want to set up a savings account." "That’s great. Please fill out these forms." He said, "But I can’t read or write." The banker replied, "You can’t read or write? Do you know what you’d be today if you were literate?"
He said, "YES, I’D BE THE JANITOR OF THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH."
D. (1 Cor 1:27 NIV) But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.(1 Cor 1:28 NIV) He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are,(1 Cor 1:29 NIV) so that no one may boast before him.
E. Friends ask me, “How is your church?” I tell them, “Doing good in spite of me.” (Rom 7:18 NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
